Windmill



(No Model.) a

W. H. ALDRICH.

WINDMILL. No. 399,645. a Patented Mar. 19, 1889.

N PETERS. Phnln-Lflhugrapher, Washin ton, ELC.

Ilnrrnn Starts Parana. @rrrcn.

WVILLIAM H. ALDRICH, OF KEOKUK,

IOWA.

WINDIVHLL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 399,645, dated March 19, 1889. Application filed May 12, I886. Serial No. 201,971. (No model.).

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. ALDRICH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Keokuk, in the county of Lee and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in \Vindmills and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to that class of wind- Wheels which are provided with mechanism for communicating power to machinery for doing various kinds of work; and it is especially adapted to be used in connection with those windmills generally known as solid-wheel mills. Heretofore windmills of this class have been provided with mechanism to throw the wheel in and out of the wind, consisting of a horizontal rock-shaf t j ourn aled to the shank of the vane and provided with arms extending laterally from its opposite ends, the outer end of one of said arms being connected with a counterbalancing-rod extending down at one side of the tower and pivot, and the opposite arm being connected with the wheel-casting, the regulating-vane being pivoted to the vane-shank and connected to one of said arms.

In other devices employed for the above purpose a horizontally-opcrating sheave has been used pivoted to a stationary part of the tower and having ropes connected therewith, one of said ropes being connected with a weighted lever and the other passing downward to the ground, said ropes adapted to opcrate over pulleys located on the tower, and the sheave being connected with the wheelcasting by means of an arm rigidly secured thereto; but these old devices are liable to get out of order and the parts are easily broken and are not compact in form, but take up considerable space and employ many parts.

The object of my invention is to provide a windmill which shall overcome these objectional features in the mills heretofore in use, and which shall consist of a minimum number of parts, be exceedingly cheap to manufacture, and be durable and efficient in operation.

lVith these ends in view my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, more fully described hereinafter, and pointed out in the claim.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of my improvement, partly in crosssection, some of the parts being broken away; Fig. 2, a front view, in detail, of the pivot to which the wind-wheel is attached; Fig. 3, a side elevation, in detail, of the segmental sheave provided with regulating-vane and link for attaching the sheave to the wheel pivot or casting; Fig. 4, a detail end view of the segmental sheave.

A represents the wheel-casting, and B the taileasting, both of which are pivoted at their upper and lower ends to a vertical hollow pivot located centrally in the upper part of the tower. Said hollow pivot is provided with a supporting-flange or tower-plate, ll, cast integrally therewith, or secured thereto in any suitable manne and it may be made sufficiently large to cover over the top of the tower-timbers T T. Said hollow pivot is held in an upright position by means of bolts U, which pass through the timbers T, one end of each bolt being provided with an eye, through which the pivot passes, and the other end with a thread and nut, by means of which the pivot can be kept in an upright position.

0 is a double-grooved segmental sheave hinged to the top of the tail-casting B, so as to oscillate vertically in the same vertical plane with the hollow stationary pivot and have its periphery overhang the upper end of the same, and said sheave connected to the wheel-casting A by means of a link, N, which is swiveled at one end to a pin, 1), extending from the side thereof, and at the other end by a loose connection, as will be seen in Figs. and 4. Said sheave is secured to the operating-rod K by means of chains M and M, the former being fastened in one end of one of the grooves for lowering and the latter to the other end of the adjoining groove for raising the rod. The lower end of the operating-rod K is attached to the weight-lever S by means of a fork-head, P. One end of said lever is adapted to be secured to the frame-work of the mill by means of a pivot passing through it at t, and the opposite end is provided with a suitable number of weights, 1', suspended by means of chain Q. r

The wheel-shaft D passes through the wheelcasting A, and is provided with a bearing in the same between the upper and lower pivotal points, a and a thereof, whereby the strain upon the wheel-casting during high 5 winds or at any time is more evenly distributed and the casting less liable to become broken or injured, and as the weight of the wheel is thrown evenly upon the two pivotal points the said casting will turn more readily and with less friction when operated by the segmental sheave, thus overcoming a great difficulty heretofore experienced in mills in which the wheel-shaft passes through the wheel-casting above orbelowthe pivotal points 1 of the same.

The wheel-shaft D is provided with bevel gear-wheel E, which meshes with bevel-pinion F, which is also provided with rectangular teeth upon its lower portion gearing with pinion G upon the upper portion of vertical shaft J. Said vertical shaft extends downward to operate any suitable mechanism below. Regulating-vane L is fastened to the upper portion of sheave O in a socket, a, and

it is provided with a sail, b, which is above the radius of the wheel. Tail-bar O is provided with an iron brace-rod, O.

The wheel and tail castings A B are supported upon central pivot, I, by collar 6-, rig- 0 idly secured thereto. By this means the cast ings A B are prevented from bearing down upon the gear-wheel F.

The operation of my device is as follows: lVhen the lever S is pulled down by the 3 5 weights, the wind-wheel is turned with its face to the wind and stands at right angles to the tail-vane O, and the vane L assumes an upright position. \Vhen the wheel-shaftD revolves, the bevel gear-wheel E,being keyed 0 fast thereto, revolves with it and turns bevelpinion F, which revolves upon the hollow central pivot, I. The lower gearing upon pinion F engages with and turns pinion G, said pinion being keyed to the upper end of shaft J,

which communicates motion to any suitable machinery below. The said shaft J is journaled in an independent stationary bearing located at one side of the central pivot, carryin g the wheel and tail castings, and is thereby distinguishedfrom mill-gearing in which an oblique downwardly extending powershaft is journaled in a revolving turn-table and adapted to be carried around with the tower. When the wind reaches a certain velocity and produces too much pressure upon 5 5' the vane L, the same is blown over toward the tail-vane and turns the sheave c upward, thereby raising rod K by means of chain M and overcoming the downward pressure of the weights 7". The connecting-link N at the same time turns the wheel-casting A around,

so that the main shaft D will be turned nearly at right angles to the tail-vane and the wheel will be edgewise to the wind. When the wind-pressure slackens, the weights 0" bring the vane L back to a perpendicular position, and at the same time turn the wind-wheel t0 the wind by means of the connection N. The wind-wheel may be faced to the wind and any desired speed obtained by increasing or diminishing the number of weights upon the chain Q. The mill may be stopped by simply unhooking the weights 7" from the chain Q and raising the lever S until the windwheel swings around parallel to the tail and the edge presented to the wind. By my arrangement the resistance of the vane can be regulated from the ground, and the former labor of climbing the tower is dispensed with, thereby making the mill much easier to manage.

It is evident that the details of my invention can be varied in many ways which might suggest themselves to a skilled mechanic. Therefore I do not limit myself to the precise construction herein shown, but feel entitled to such variations as come within its scope.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and wish to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination, in a windmill, of a central pivot, I, a collar, e, rigidly secured thereto, wind-wheel and tail castings A B, wheelshaft D, provided with bevel gear-wheel E, meshing with bevel-gear upon wheel F, loosely 5 secured to said central pivot, a side shaft, J, provided with a pinion, G, meshing with gearing upon said wheel F, and mechanism, substantially as described, for regulating the speed of the wind-wheel, all arranged and adapted to operate as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

\VILLIAM H. ALDRICH.

TOO

WVitnesses:

EDWINs BOOTH, L. HAGERMAN. 

